JOHN Swinney has given his verdict on whether he believes Elon Musk will attempt to “influence” the 2026 Holyrood election.
The First Minister made the comment after giving his first major speech of 2025 in Edinburgh on Monday morning, urging opposition parties to back the Scottish Budget set out by Finance Secretary Shona Robison in December.
Swinney (below) warned that failing to pass the Budget in the coming weeks would “feed the forces of anti-politics and populism,” while passing it would give people “confidence” in the political system.
When asked whether Musk – the billionaire owner of Twitter/X and a close ally of incoming US president Donald Trump – might attempt to influence the 2026 Holyrood election as a “test run” for the next UK General Election, Swinney responded: “The honest answer is I don’t know what Elon Musk will try to do, I don’t have a direct line [with him] and I’m not seeking a direct line.
“What I do know is that our electoral law and our whole approach to our politics is based on the fact that there should be no external interference.
“I don’t like external interference in Scotland’s politics, whether it comes from London, or the United States, or anywhere else.
“I believe that the politics of our country should be determined by the people who choose to live in this country.”
Musk (above) previously intervened in UK politics after showing support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, with reports that the world's richest man was considering donating up to $100 million (£79m) to the party.
However, Musk has since said that Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead Reform UK, just weeks after it was claimed the pair had a “great meeting” in the US.
When asked how much “danger” Musk poses to democracy in Scotland, the First Minister said: “What we’ve got to do in these circumstances is to use the tools available to us. We’re not powerless.
“It’s up to the rest of us to decide what our response is going to be. We’ve got a Parliament which has the ability to decisively and emphatically back a unifying provision in the Budget from the Scottish Government which is about improving the lives of people in Scotland.”
Swinney accepted that while people were frustrated with current conditions caused by the financial crash, Brexit, Covid, austerity and the invasion of Ukraine, “we’ve got to take the actions we can take to improve people’s lives and to give them confidence in our political system”.
He added: “The best way we can do that in the short term is to pass the Scottish Government’s Budget, which has been constructed quite deliberately to bring people together in Scotland.”
The First Minister continued: “If we pass a Budget which is a unifying Budget, I think we will help to give people greater confidence in our political system which is an antidote to the forces of populism.
“If we don’t do that, then I’m warning that we risk fuelling that sentiment, and that will be very dangerous for our democratic traditions in Scotland.”
Swinney also responded to Musk's comments around the UK Government's safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips (above), after he claimed that she was a "rape genocide apologist".
The First Minister said Musk's comments about Phillips were "reprehensible", including his claim that she "deserves to be in prison" for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
